MadCap Syndicate FAQs

MadCap Syndicate is a cloud-based, SCORM-compliant, centralized content management platform that provides a single source of truth & allows organizations to deliver content exactly where it needs to be — with or without an LMS — while providing powerful search capabilities, full version control & robust security.

Yes. You can upload third-party content including PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, movies and virtually any other type of content. SCORM packages generated from Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate can be stored in and played in Syndicate.

Yes. You can upload your logo and set the color scheme to match your branding for the desktop and mobile portals.

Yes, you can set permissions for folders and content for group access.

Yes. Detailed search and filtering return both documents and learning objects that can be further filtered using metadata.

Video is delivered in Syndicate using progressive download, similar to how YouTube delivers videos. Video formats supported include: .ogg, .webm, .mp4, .mp4v, .mpg4, .flv, .mov (not in IE).

Syndicate uses a leading content delivery network (CDN) to serve content to end-users with high availability and performance.

Syndicate portal is currently only in US English, but supports multi-lingual searching based on the document language. Other user interface languages will be supported in the future.

No. Content in Syndicate can be shared using easy to understand links of various types. There is a library available of RESTful APIs to query different types of information that may be relevant to an integration.

Yes. SSO with Syndicate is supported using the SAML 2.0 standard. Contact your Customer Success Manager for more information.

Yes. Your own documents (spreadsheets, Word docs, PDF docs, etc.) and SCORM courses can all be uploaded into Syndicate and taken by learners and portal users. However, the statements recorded in the learning record store (LRS) will differ between Create-produced SCORM courses and third-party SCORM courses.

Any time the same document is published to Syndicate using the same output profile into the same folder, a new version of the document is automatically created. All versions are available to Admin and can be accessed via a unique URL. If you want two versions that are independent of one another, publishing into a different folder or through a different output profile will create a unique document in Syndicate.

MadCap Software provides a single source of truth for your proprietary content with the security, traceability, and controls you need to integrate your content with your AI solutions. MadCap Software leverages AI to transform content management and development, focusing on three key areas: Content Access, Content Intelligence, and Content Assistance. Read more on MadCap Software’s AI Innovations

The protection of customer data and intellectual property is MadCap Software’s top priority, and our commitment to that protection is absolute. MadCap Software never uses customer data or intellectual property to train or enhance any AI system. For more information about MadCap Software’s commitment to AI security & Privacy, please read our statement. MadCap Software offers enterprise-level security throughout our platform, both MadCap Software’s systems and business processes keep this commitment true throughout our organization. For more information about our commitment to the protection of customer data and intellectual property, please see our “Security FAQ”.

MadCap Software provides optional AI-powered features to the platform in places where it directly benefits our customers; however, customers fully control whether to enable or disable these features and often can configure these features to meet their specific needs. For more information about MadCap Software’s commitment to AI security & Privacy, please read our statement.
MadCap Software can also integrate with bespoke customer AI solutions through our robust APIs, Platform Events System, and the extensibility of Sidekick. For more information on integrating with the MadCap Software Platform, see the integrations page.

Use Sidekick to plug in your own AI-powered solutions. Sidekick is MadCap Software’s extensible productivity tool designed to streamline the content development lifecycle and prepare your content workflow to integrate AI capabilities. It simplifies repetitive tasks like document summarization and offers customizable actions known as "Kicks."
Find out more about MadCap Software’s AI Vision.

The software is hosted. All MadCap Software modules are offered as SaaS only.

We host periodic live product demos. Contact us today for a live demo of our product.

Yes, the two modules are licensed separately. Create is used for authoring and publishing learning content. Syndicate is used for content delivery, is xAPI-enabled, and has built-in analytics. Pricing is based on the number of editors and learners accessing the system.

We support the latest versions of major browsers as well as iOS and Android devices.

No. MadCap Software is a hosted application, so users only need a current web browser to access the MadCap Software platform.

Whenever you check in content in Create or publish content to Syndicate, version history tracks the changes. At any time, you can roll back to a prior version if necessary.

You can add unlimited metadata to any content object. A metadata vocabulary management capability allows you to define and maintain global metadata vocabularies. This allows users to pick metadata values from a list when creating content and when searching in Syndicate.

Yes. Our web publishing templates are HTML5-compliant and built using responsive web design methods, so content automatically adapts to the device's characteristics. You can tailor these to meet your needs or build your own. Syndicate includes a native mobile app for iOS and Android that allows users to search, browse, and experience content. This activity is tracked and reported.

We can integrate with any SCORM 2004 or 1.2 certified LMS and have successfully integrated with Cornerstone OnDemand, SuccessFactors, Saba, SumTotal, NetDimensions, Moodle and Blackboard, and many others. We support two integration methods: traditional package deployment to the LMS or streamlined deployment via our content delivery service.

Yes, single sign-on, using SAML 2.0, can be used for seamless authentication and automatic account provisioning and group assignment.

Yes, you can build or integrate your own learning apps with MadCap Software’s REST-based API, which provides for user, group, and content functions, plus learning activity tracking.

Yes, any learning activity related to content served from Syndicate will be tracked in the learning record store using xAPI. You can also add statements to the LRS for your own learning activities. The xAPI can also be used to export statements to integrate with other business systems.

You can read MadCap Software’s data protection policy here.

Yes, you can easily import existing content into MadCap Software Create using a variety of file formats, including Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, and XML. Some interactive content authored in separate programs can also be embedded into MadCap Software projects using iframes, web components, or HTML pages. Additionally, MadCap Syndicate can host any content types for management, distribution, and analytics.

MadCap Software uses a power version control system that allows you to easily manage updates and changes to your content. This system allows you to check in/out projects and content components, track changes, review previous versions, and roll-back to previous versions when necessary. Additionally, MadCap Software keeps a full and immutable history on each project that supports document governance and compliance.

MadCap Software provides a comprehensive onboarding experience for its customers, ensuring a smooth transition to their platform. This includes a detailed project plan, regular check-ins with the customer, and training sessions for users to ensure they develop the expertise for a successful implementation.

Yes, MadCap Software provides a robust REST API to access content within Syndicate for customer-specific integrations. The API is well documented, and MadCap Software offers training and consulting to help your organization get up to speed or assist in the integration.

First, reusability. Separating content from presentation allows for great reusability of content. With the content stored as individual components inside MadCap Create, it can be reused and repurposed for various output formats, including print, web, mobile, eLearning, and more. This eliminates the need to create separate content for each output, saving time and effort.

Second, consistency. When content is separated from presentation, it is easier to maintain consistency across all output types and formats. Updates and changes can be made to the content in a single location, and those changes will be reflected across all outputs. This ensures that the content is accurate, both in terms of look and feel, and in the content itself.

Third, efficiency. Separating content from presentation can lead to greater efficiency in the content creation process. Writers and subject-matter experts can focus on creating high-quality content without being bogged down by formatting and layout concerns. In turn, designers can focus on creating visually appealing layouts without having to worry about content. This can lead to faster turnaround times, a more efficient creation process, and a much more immediate update workflow.

MadCap Software supports a wide variety of output types and file formats, including:

• eLearning (HTML5, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, AICC)
• Guides, user guides, and handouts (Word Documents, PDFs, HTML5)
• Presentation slides (PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, HTML5/Online Slides)
• Performance support (Word Documents, PDF, HTML5)
• Raw data (XML + media)

MadCap Software includes robust collaboration features that allow team members to work together on content creation. These include real-time browser-based editing, content component level checking-in/out, review, assignments, commenting, and version tracking.

MadCap Software includes a collaborative, web-based content review system inside of MadCap Create. Content owners may initiate a review and invite internal and external reviewers via a system-generated email. The collaborative review provides all reviewers with a system to highlight, comment, and reply to other reviewers' comments in a conversation-styled review experience. Additionally, comments can be flagged for implementation, rejected, or marked completed.

Yes, you can tag your content objects with metadata in MadCap Software. This is one of the key features of the platform, and it allows you to add descriptive information and tags to your content that can then be used for search, filtering, and organization. Additionally, you can define custom metadata fields and values to meet your enterprise needs.

MadCap Software provides several levels of content reuse, from individual content objects to entire documents or projects. At the most granular level, you can reuse individual content components, such as images, text, tables, or videos. These components can be recombined like building blocks into larger content objects like topics or lessons.

Yes, you can search for content to reuse and link into your own projects in MadCap Software. The platform indexes its entire library and includes a powerful search engine that allows you to search by keyword, metadata, or other custom criteria. This makes it easy to find and reuse existing content within your own projects, saving you time and effort, while providing efficiency and consistency at the enterprise level.

Absolutely! Managed as a Services project, our developers will perform any updates and maintenance necessary to templates as needed. Contact your Customer Success Manager for more information.

MadCap Software includes a comprehensive library of authoring and publishing templates that can be configured to a customer’s specific requirements. Themes and style changes for responsive web outputs are made in Create, as well as course sequencing rules. Print output designs for Word and PowerPoint are made directly in Word and PowerPoint templates.

Implementation time is unique to each customer. Your Customer Account Manager (CAM) will guide your team through the process to achieve short-term wins and long-term innovation, while offering best practices to increase user adoption and drive continuous improvement. MadCap Software has developed a project framework based on Agile methods and years of successful implementations with organizations from many industries. It is designed to quickly mobilize a team of experts from MadCap Software and your organization to identify and deliver learning content and strategy aligned to your business needs.

Yes. You will have regular checkpoints with your account manager plus access to our 24-7 support system and self-help tools including online help, eLearning and weekly live-learning sessions.

Customers can choose in which region they would like their data stored. Currently, MadCap Software’s platform operates in the United States and the European Union.

Yes. At rest, data is encrypted using the industry standard AES256 algorithm. In transit, data is encrypted using TLS 1.2 or higher across public networks.

MadCap Software follows the NIST Computer Security Incident Handling Guide (NIST SP 800-61) to ensure that security incidents are handled using a well-designed and proven process.

MadCap Software provides optional AI-powered features to the platform in places where it directly benefits our customers; however, customers fully control whether to enable or disable these features and often can configure these features to meet their specific needs. For more information about MadCap Software's commitment to AI security & Privacy, please read our statement.

MadCap Software can also integrate with bespoke customer AI solutions through our robust APIs, Platform Events System, and the extensibility of Sidekick. For more information on integrating with the MadCap Software Platform, see the integrations page.

Yes. All data you store in MadCap Software’s platform is backed up at least daily in both the primary region where you are hosted and to a secondary region in the same country. We test our disaster recovery procedures annually as well as whenever there is a change to the backup mechanism.

MadCap Software connects with the tools and platforms you use every day. MadCap Software works with enterprise organizations to create powerful solutions to complex business problems. Experts in our Professional Services team work with organizations to create tailored integrations to enhance their content technology stack.

Find out more about out integration possibilities.

Yes. At MadCap Software we believe that content should be accessible to everyone. Our aim is to empower people regardless of ability or situation.

Find out more about our accessibility features.